CBSE Class 11 English Textual Questions Notes Set A

SECOND : D (Textual Questions)

1. The Portrait of a Lady Khushwant Singh Gist of the lesson

Khushwant Singh is one of the prominent Indian writers and columnists. He has written on various themes and issues. In this lesson he gives a detailed account of his grandmother who had a long association with him. The old, stout, short and a little bent grand mother is clad in white clothes and keeps on telling beads of her rosary. During their long stay in village, the grand mother used to wake up the narrator in the morning and accompanied him to school. She took care of all small things and continued her regular prayers and reading of scriptures. On the way back home she fed stray dogs with stale chapatis. Shifting to city home was a turning point as it increased distances in their relationship. Now, the author was going to a city school and studying all modern day subjects. The grand mother was not able to help the author in his studies and she felt disturbed as there was no teaching of God and scriptures. The grand mother devoted her time in praying, spinning and feeding sparrows. She did not get disturbed when the author was leaving for abroad and saw him off maintaining her peace and calm. Seeing her old age, the narrator thought that that could be his last meeting with his affectionate grandmother. But, contrary to his thinking after a span of five years the grandmother was there to receive him. She celebrated her grandson’s home coming in an ususual way by beating a drum and singing. She had a peaceful end and every one including sparrows got aggrieved at the demise of a bold, religious, practical, responsible and loving person.

2. We are not afraid to die .... If we can all be together.

Gordon cook and Alen East

It is description of a sea adventure experienced by the narrator and his family. The narrator, his wife mary, son Jonathan and daughter Suzanne were accompanied by two experienced sailors American Lerry vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler. In July 1976 they set sail from plymouth, England in Wave Walker, a specially built boat. The first part of the journey was pleasant and everything went on smoothly up to Cape Town. Unfriendly weather and gigantic waves of Southern Indian Ocean compelled the sailors to slow their speed, drop storm jib and take other precautions. The danger was so implicit that the sailors completed liferaft drill and attached life lines and life jackets. On 2 January 1977 agiant wave hit wavewalker and caused much damage to it. The sailors got injured and the narrator was thrown overboard but he managed to get hold of wave walker’s guard rails. Inspite of his multiple injuries, he took hold of the wheel. In an atmosphere of fear and panic mary took charge of the wheel whereas larry and Herb started pumping out water. The narrator managed to stretch and cover convas across the gaps to prevent water from entering the ship. Their hand pumps stopped working and electric pumps shortcircuited. They were distressed and busy in pumping, steering, repairing and radio signalling. They studied charts and calculatively decided to reach a nearby island. They all were too busy in rescue work and did not take any meal for two days. Children were injured too but they did not draw attention of their parents and just allowed them to save Wavewalker. The children said that they were not afraid to die if they could all be together. The narrator became more determined and strong seeing children’s courage. Finally they reached. Ile Amsterdem, a volcanic island where they were welcomed by 28 inhabitants. Thus, the collective strength and never failing optimism of the sailors made it possible to come out of the jaws of death. Though, Jonathan and Suzanne did not do anything to save Wavewalker but their courage, forebearance, faith and optimism gave extra strength and persistence to the narrator and his team.

3. Discovering Tut : The Saga Continues
A.R. Williams
A powerful dynasty ruled Egypt. Tut the last king of this dynasty died When he was just a teenager but the cause of his death was not known. That tomb was discovered in 1922 and investigation was done on 5 January, 2005. Some people opposed the investigation and thought that it would disturb pharaoh’s peace. That was buried with gold arte facts and every day things like board games, bronze razor, lines garments, cases of food and wine. Howard carter faced tough time in removing Tut’s mummy from the solid gold coffin. The ritual resins could not be removed with Sun heat and carter had to chisel it away to raise the kings remains. In 1968 an anatomy professor revealed that Tut’s breast bone and front ribs were missing. Amenhotep IV promoted the ‘Aten’, the sun disk and moved his capital from Thebes to Akhenaten. He smashed the images of Amun and closed its temples. During his short reign of 9 years. Tut’s restored the old God and traditional ways. After scanning and Xraying Tut’s mummy, it was placed back in his tomb. Zahi Hawaas, the secretary general of Egypt’s council of Antiquities was relieved to know that nothing wrong had gone with their popular child king.

4. The Ailing Planet : The Green Movement’s Role
Nani Palkhivala
This article written by Nani Palkhivala appeared in ‘The Indian Express’ on 24 November 1994. It focuses On the deteriorating condition of the earth because of man’s growing lust to exploit all the natural resources. The earth has been turned in to a barren land. The Green movement is the only answer to solve many problems. The entire human race is involved in the Green Movement which was started in 1972. There has been an irrevocable shift from the mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view of the world. There is a growing world wide conciousness that the earth itself is living organism an enormous being of which we are parts. But its vital signs reveal a patient in declining health. The efforts of the environmentalists have gone futile. The immediate need is to promote the concept of sustainble development’ as mooted by the world commission on Environment and Development in 1987. The author feels that it is a matter of relief that the people have now started thinking of saving the planet by thinking of development as a means to control population, the mother of all problems.

5. The Browning Version
The present extract is from The play “The Browning Version” written by Terence Rattigan which is focussed on a good but impopular school teacher Mr. Crocker Harris. It vividly brings about the agony of a dedicated teacher who has a strict attitude towards his students. It starts with the conversation between a school boy Taplow and another teacher Frank. Teachers like Frank encourage student like Taplow to make comments on their fellow teachers. Frank asks Taplow not to wait for CrackerHarris and leave. But Taplow waits for him. In between Millie, the wife of Crocker Harris arrives there and sends him to chemist’s shop with a presecription. The play exhibits that the boy Taplow is much afraid of his teacher and has to stay till his arrival. In this extract the author brings out the character of Crocker Harris through Taplow in a direct contrast to Frank.

HORNBILL (POETRY)
1. A Photograph
by Shirley Toulson
The poet discribes the photograph that captures interesting moments of her mother’s childhood when she went for a sea holiday with her two cousins. Poet draws a contrast between the sea in which the girls are standing and their transient feet to suggest shortness of human life and slow changing sea. Poet also recollects how her mother would have laughed at the photograph and felt disappointed at the loss of her childhood joys. Now poet’s mother has been dead for twelve years. In this situation she feels very sad and lonely. This loss has left her speechless. But she has learned to reconcile with this loss with great difficulty.

2. The Voice of the Rain
By Walt Whitman
The poet gives imaginative description of the answer given by a soft falling shower.  When poet asks it “Who are You”? It says that it is the poem of the earth and it is everlasting. The poet compares the rain to a song. Just as a song rises from the heart of a poet and gives pleasure and joy to the poet similarly Rain originates from the earth and the bottomless sea, takes a vague shape of clouds and comes down to make its birthplace (earth) clean, pure and beautiful.

3. Childhood
By Markus Natten
In this small and beautiful poem the poet recalls his childhood and wonders where it has gone. He narrates various stages where he lost his childhood.
The poet is in a fix as he is unable to understand about his childhood. He is trying to reason out its timings. He wondered whether it was at the age of eleven, when he started reaching logical conclusions based on his reasoning power. The second possibility is when he reached his adulthood where people do not act

The third possibility seemed to be when he could produce his own thoughts and practise independently. In the final stanza the poet is trying to locate the place where his childhood has disappeared. He realizes that the adolescence follows childhood in the same way as childhood had replaced infancy. Thus he concludes that his childhood went to some forgotten place that was hidden in an infants face.

4. Father to Son
by Elizabeth Jennings
The poem discribes a father’s agony over a sense of estrangement from his son. They have lived in the same house for years. Yet they behave as strangers. The father gave his son all love and care when he was a little child. He wanted him to grow up into a man of his choice. He had his own likes and dislikes. However there was hardly any communication or conversation between them which made the father not to understand why in his grief he becomes angry with his son. As both of them intensely love each other, they are always in search of some excuse to forgive themselves.
Thus its a clash between two generations and their ego, though both of them have love and feeling for each other.

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